Her vision was quickly going black, and it felt to Valerie like her entire torso might cave in from the pressure the ogre was putting on her, but just before she could be overwhelmed by it Markus was able to make his move. Valerie was able to rip her sword free from the creature's wrist just as Markus went up to stab at its throat. Finally released, she gasped in one breath after another, rolling onto her side from the coughing and wheezing.

The ground shook and Markus cried out, and despite her breathlessness Valerie forced herself up as best she could. She was dizzy again, this time from lack of oxygen, and stumbled more than once on her way over to the fallen ogre. She feared it might have crushed Markus, but she found him half-pinned underneath it, still intact and just regaining consciousness by the looks of it. The monster was twitching slightly, but soon enough that stopped too, and the ogre was dead.

Valerie fell to her knees at Markus's side, only keeping herself up by pressing her hands against the ground. She reached out to squeeze his shoulder. "We did it," she said, sounding a little surprised. And though they were both banged up, neither was seriously injured. They were either lucky, or more skilled than Valerie gave herself credit for. Still, the clearing wasn't safe, as they had no cover and Valerie wasn't keen on the idea of fighting anything else right now. She managed to get back to her feet, and reluctantly approached the dead ogre's head.

"Come on, we can get you out together. On three." She took hold of the ogre's head from underneath, preparing to lift it up as best she could. "One, two, three!"